Applicator



June 29,1948. 4 LWEAKLEND 2,444,212

' APPLICATOR Filed Feb. 28, 1946 2 Shesats-Sheet 1 June 29, 1948.

w. L. WEAKLEND APPLI CATOR '2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 28, 1946 I rwentor Wdzerl WeakZem L Patented June 29, 1948 UNITED STATES f PATENTOFFICE APPLICATOR Walter L. Weaklend, Rosendale, Mo. I ApplicationFebruary ZS, 1946, Serial No. 650,974 p 2 Claims (01. 119-157) Thisinvention relates to an applicator and more particularly to adevice forapplyingliquid chemicals to animals.

of an animal as it passes beneath the applicator.

Another object is to apply the liquid uniformly toianimals ofvaryingheights.

The above and other objectsma'ybe attained by employing this inventionwhich embodies a tank suspended in spaced relation to the groundcarryingguides, a liquid discharge valve in the bottom of the tank,spray pipes connected to the liquid discharge valve, a rotaryapplicatory suspended from the tank for vertical movement with relationthereto and having liquid retaining recesses'in itsperiphery, a liquidabsorbingand distributing covering on said rotary applicator andmeansoperable uponupward movement of the applicator for'opening theliquiddischarge valve and spraying the applicatorawith liquid throughthe spray pipe.

Otherfeatures include means for initially opening the valve to allow theliquid to be dischargedupon the applicator, which means permits thevalve to close after the initial discharge of the liquid has takenplace, despite the fact that an animalmay linger beneath the device andhold the applicator elevated.

In the drawings:

Figural is a side view partially in section of a liquid applicatorembodying the features of this invention; l FigureZ is an end view inelevation of Figurel, Figure 3 is a top plan view of Figure 1,

Figure 4. is a. vertical sectional view taken substantially alongtheline 4--4of Figure 1,

Figure 5 isa transverse sectional view taken substantially alone 'theline 55 of Figure 1', and A r 1 A Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 4showing the parts in valve opening position. 1

Referring to thedrawings in detail a liquid containingtanklllis providedwith a suitable bracket ll, opposite ends of which project beyond thesides of the tank or reservoir Ill and are pierced as at I2 to receivesupporting screws by which the tank may be suspended from a fixedsupport (not shown). This tank) is provided with a pyramidal bottom l3having an axial opening 14 into which apipe nipple I5 is welded orotherwise secured to form a liquidtight junction. A cover [6 is fittedon the tank .lll andas shown the nipple l5 extends upwardly'into thetank for a short distance to form a valve seat. Attached to the end ofthe nipple opposite that which enters the tank in is a T I! to oppositelegs of which are connected nipples I 8 having perforations l9 throughwhioh liquid from the tank is discharged onto the applicator to be morefully hereinafter described. The ends. of

the nipples l8 opposite those entering the .T H are closed by caps aswill be readily under-. stood upon reference to Figure 1. The. T I1. isprovided with anopening 2| which aligns q axially with the nipple I5 forthe reception of 7 guides 22 areguide rods 26 the lower ends of whichare welded or otherwise rigidly fixed within tubular sockets 21 whichare joined near opposite ends by cross-members 28 to form asubstantially rectangular frame. .Cross-braces 29 extend diagonallybetween the opposite socket members 2'! and secured to the extreme lowerends of the socket members are axially aligning sleeves 30 which formbearings for the trunnions of the applicator roller to be more fullyhereinafter described. Secured to the bottom edge of each of theuppermost bars 28 are guide bars 32 the ends of which are upturned as at33 and welded to the undersides of the bars 28 to form guide channelsfor the friction roller supporting brackets which will be more fullyhereinafter described. Suspension springs 25' depend from the bands 23and their lower ends are attached to the uppermost cross-bars 28yieldingly to suspend the carriage for vertical movement with relationto the tank It].

My improved rotary applicator, designated generally as 34, comprises acylindrical body or roller 35 having formed therein spaced peripheralopenings or're-cesses 36 forming reservoirs for the I Mounted forvertical sliding movement through the opening 2| in the T H is a pushrod 39 formed adjacent its upper end with a transverse opening for thereception of a cotter pin 40 against which a washer 4| seats.Surrounding the push rod 39 adjacent the washer 4| is a compression coil1 spring 42 the lower end of which bears against a washer 43 which seatson a gasket 44 which surrounds the rod and in turn rests .upon a conicalmember 45 which. is'held against movement in one direction by means of acotter key or pin 45 which extends transversely through the rod 39 aswill be readily understood upon reference to Figure 4. The washer 43 andthe gasket 44 are of a diameter to close the upper-end of the nipplewhen the valve is seated as illustrated in Figure 1. Formed on the rod39 near its lower end is a cylindrical enlargement 41 and the rod ispierced transversely adjacent its lower end to receive a cotter pin 48which serves as a stop against which a washer 49 bears. Seated on thewasher 49 is a compression coil spring 50 the upper end of which bearsagainst a Washer 5| which is slidable on the rod 39 between the washer49 and the enlargement 41, it being understood that the movement of thewasher 5| under the influence of the spring 59 will be limited by thecylindrical enlargement or collar 41' previously described. The springs42 and 59 serve as buifer springs while the main actuating spring formoving the valve to closed position surrounds the rod 39 and isdesignated 52. The upper end of this spring bears against the under-sideof the T I! while the lower end of the spring52 rests upon a washer 53held in spaced relation to the under-side of the T I! by means of acotter pin 54 which extends transversely through the rod the outwardmovement of the rollers 5| the rod 39 will be returned to its loweredposition under the influence of the spring 52, thus causing the gasket44'to seat again on the upper end of the nipple l5 and close thedischarge passage therethrough. By adjusting the nuts 59 on their bolts51 the force of the springs I50 may be regulated and consequentlythellength of time. that the gasket 44 remains unseated with-relation tothe upper end of the nipple l5 may be varied to suit differentconditions.

From the foregoing it will be seen that a simple and efficientapplicator is provided so that as animals pass beneath the device andcontact the rotary applicator 34 the liquid contained in the reservoirs35 will be evenly distributed over the backs of the animals and at thesame time the as will be readily understood upon reference to Figures 1and 5. It will thus be seen that the rod 39 will be urged downwardly soas to cause the gasket 44 to seat on the upper end of the nipple l5 andprevent the discharge of the liquid from the reservoir l9 until suchtime as the rod is moved upwardly against the compression of the spring52.

In order to cause the rod 39 to move upwardly and lift the gasket 44from its seat on the upper end of the nipple l5 a pair of spaced shafts55 extend transversely of the device with their ends disposed in theguide channels between the bars i 28 and the guide bars-32. The outerends of the shafts are journaled in angle brackets 55 which are piercedas at 51 to receive adjusting bolts 58. As shown in Figure 5 theseadjusting bolts are provided with screw threads for the reception ofadjusting nuts 59, the inner faces of which bear against compressioncoil springs 69. The opposite ends of said coil springs bear against theoutstanding legs of the brackets 56 yieldingly to urge the brackets andtheir respective shafts toward one another. Mounted for rotation on theshafts 55 are rollers 6| which as illustrated in Figures 4 and ,5 arearranged on opposite sides of the rod 39 so that when the carriagedefined by the sockets 21 and the bars 28 move upwardly the rollers 6|will engage the cylindrical portion 41 and cause the rod 39 to moveupwardly against the compression of the spring 52, thus lifting thegasket 44 off of the upper end of the nipple l5 and permitting thecontents of the reservoir I 9 to flow out through the spray openingsl9'to be discharged upon the surface of the applicator 34. After theinitial opening movement, the rollers 6| will be forced outwardlyagainst the compression of the springs "60 when the power of the spring52 becomes sufficiently great and with passage of the animals will causethe gasket 44 to unseat from its position on the upper end of the nippleI5 and allow a fresh charge of liquid to be deposited'upon theapplicator 34.

While in the foregoing there has been shown andd'escribed the preferredembodiment of this invention it is to be understood that minor changesin the details of construction, combination 'andarrangement of parts maybe resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as claimed.

I claim:

1. In a device for applying liquid tolivestock a tank adapted to be heldin fixed suspension and having a bottom outlet, tubular guides carriedby the tank, a liquid discharge valve in the bottom outlet, spray pipesconnected to the liquid discharge valve, a carriage suspended from thetank for vertical movement with relation thereto, a liquid distributingroller at the lower end of the carriage upon which liquid from the spraypipes is adapted to impinge, a valve control rod depending from theliquid discharge valve, a spring encircling said rod yieldingly to holdsaid valve closed, a cylindrical enlargement on the rod near the upperend of the carriage and means on the carriage-for engaging theenlargement on the rod to open the valve upon upward movement of thecarriage.

2. In a device for applying liquid to livestock a tank adapted to beheld in fixed suspension and having a bottom outlet, tubular guidescarried by the tank, a liquid discharge valve in the bottomoutlet,,spray pipes connected to-the liquid discharge valve, a carriagesuspended from the tank forvertical movement with relation thereto, aliquid distributing roller at the lower end of the carriage upon whichliquid from the spray pipes is adapted to impinge, a valve control roddepending from the liquid discharge valve, a spring encircling said rodyieldingly to hold said valve closed, a cylindrical enlargement on therod near the upper end of the carriage and spring tensioned rollers onthe carriage to engage the cylindrical enlargement on the rod and openthe valve upon upward movement of the carriage.

WALTER L. WEAKLEND.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

